A Well-known Stranger
by JeteThroughLife
Summary: TF Prime: The Autobots are going about their regular routine - fighting Decepticons, looking after the humans, saving the Earth, etc - when a Decepticon shuttle is blasted out of Earth's atmosphere... by Decepticons? The Autobots have no idea what they are in for. Bluestreak, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Bob
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_10 mega-cycles (hours) ago_

The youngster woke up with a startled cry, flailing wildly and falling off the berth, the resulting thud catching the attention of his guardians. The door opened as he untangled himself from the thermal-blanket. One of his guardians, a tall red and black mech with white accents, crossed the room and crouched in front of the youngling.

"S-s….S-sid…" the silver youngster choked out, shaking slightly.

"'Nother bad dream?" the mech asked calmly, "Y… y-yes."

"Come here," the red mech scooped the youngling off the floor and sat down on the berth, placing the youth on his lap. He rocked back and forth murmuring softly, calming the child down until he fell back into recharge. He stayed there for another cycle or so, before placing the youngling back on the berth, adjusting the headrest and tucking him in. Only when he was certain that the youngster was deep in recharge did he leave the room, pinging the motion sensor built into the door keypad on the way out, just in case.

* * *

"Did he have another nightmare?" A gold and black mech, of the relative same height and build, asked the red as he walked into the control room of the shuttle. Red nodded in confirmation, taking a seat next to the gold.

"Did he remember it this time?" Gold prodded further.

"Dunno. I didn't bother asking him. It shook him up good, whatever it was." Red replied.

Golden sighed, allowing the room to fill with a tense silence.

"Do you think we'll be able to find the others?" Red finally asked after several cycles, breaking the silence. "I don't know," his companion replied, "but I'm hoping so. It'll be good for him too." Gold jerked his head back towards the door in the general direction of the youngling. Red snickered "What? We aren't good enough role models for him?" "Hardly! And even _I_ can see that." Gold snorted.

The room once again fell into silence as the two focused on the monitors in front of them. It was a whole mega-cycle until a ping resounded through the room. Two sets of optics turned up towards the flashing monitor. Red got up from his seat, hitting several commands and bringing up a report.

"Aw frag." Red moaned after quickly scanning the report.

"What?" "Looks like the energy reserves didn't last as long as we thought they would." "Really?" Gold got up from his seat, taking a look at the monitor for himself. "Slag."

"Looks like we're gonna have to make a stop within the next ten mega-cycles." Red humphed, plunking down into his seat. Gold sat down, quickly bringing up several controls. Blue glowed from several monitors as graphs and scans were brought up. "I'll see if I can find a planetary body we can land on safely without using up the last of the reserves."

After several agonizing cycles Gold sat up with a triumphant smirk on his face. "Ah, HA." Several more commands popped up, and Gold began punching coordinates into the main console.

"Go make sure the energon converters are working. I'm not getting any deliberate signals from the planet, so I highly doubt that the people there are advanced enough for space travel... if there are any people at all."

"Alright, alright." Red grumbled, getting up from his seat. He crossed to the back of the room and was opening the door when Gold spoke up again. "And don't break them this time!" "I won't!" "You said that last time." Red responded by turning around and sticking his tongue out at the gold mech. Gold just snorted, effectively brushing him off. As he turned around however, Gold spoke up again. "And Sides," "Yeah, what?" "When we reach the planet, don't go poking 'round the wildlife. 'Cause if I have to hear from Bluestreak 'bout the incident with the "'bot eating flowers" one more time…"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say Sunny.

What_ever_ you say."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Present time_

"Please?" "No."

"Please!?" "No."

"Pleeeeease!?" "No! And for the last time no, Miko!"

Miko humphed, flopping down onto the couch. Crossing her arms she turned away from the 'Bot behind her and glared in the direction of the TV.

"Miko, don't be like that." Bulkhead sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "Well why can't I goooo!" Miko whined.

Bulkhead sighed again, "We've been over this Miko. The movie is rated over 18 for a reason. The last thing I need right now is a phone call from your host parents about why you are having nightmares." Miko snorted. "As if. Unless they can read minds, they don't know a thing about you guys." It was more a retort than a statement.

"... You know, zombies don't scare me." "Miko…" "I've already seen a _real_ zombie." "_Miko_…"

The argument was cut short by the sound of a car engine. The two turned towards the door as Bumblebee drove in. Jack and Raf climbed out allowing Bee to transform. "We'll talk about this later." Bulkhead sighed before moving towards Bumblebee. "Oh, you bet we will." Miko growled.

"Where's Arcee?" Bulkhead asked as he approached Bee. His answer was a series of whirs, clicks, buzzes, and beeps. "We picked up a Decepticon signal on our way over. Arcee Smokescreen and headed in it's direction."

"Where was the signal located?" the two 'Bots turned towards the hallway that lead further into the base. Ratchet approached, subspacing his wrench while doing so. Bumblebee and Bulkhead moved out of the way allowing Ratchet access to the computer console.

Jack and Raf headed up the stairs to the top of the platform, heading over to the entertainment center (a kind of human living area of sorts) where Miko was already seated; her class had gone on a field trip and had gotten out of school early (lucky). Jack quirked an eyebrow upon seeing her glaring at the TV, which happened to be turned off. Miko glanced up at Jack with a sigh, while Raf settled down onto a big arm chair, opening up his laptop and going about his business.

"Bulk won't let me go see that new movie that came out!" She complained.

"Which one?" "Apocalypse: Zombies vs Humans." "Isn't that rated over 18?"

Miko flopped back onto the couch, "Not you too!" Jack just sighed and sat down next to her, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on. After surfing several channels, he finally settled on a show featuring monster trucks plowing into one another. It was Miko's turn to quirk an eyebrow.

"You like monster trucks?" she asked skeptically. "Are you, Miko Nakadai, complaining about a monster truck show?" Jack asked with mock surprise. Miko paused, "No." Settling back she continued watching the show. A smile slowly forming on her lips. Jacks phone buzzed, and he glanced down at it. A message on the screen read:

**Raf: good one Jack! ;)**

Jack looked up to see Raf wink at him over his computer screen.

Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead stood around the computer console as Ratchet brought up a comm. link with Arcee and Smokescreen.

"Arcee, do you read me."

"Loud an' clear Ratchet."

The three sighed with relief. They had been experiencing interference with communications as of late, and hadn't been sure that they would get through.

"I am not picking up any signals from the 'Cons. Do you have a visual?"

"Not yet. It was very faint when we picked it up; barely caught it in fact. Smokescreen and I are almost at the coordinates. We'll report back when we get there."

"Understood, Ratchet out."

Ratchet continued to work at the console while Bumblebee and Bulkhead discussed their current situation. Suddenly the console Ratchet was working at let out several beeps. "Ah, HA! I've pinpointed the signal…. That's not right."

"What is it doc?" Bulkhead and Bee drew closer.

"The signal is approximately 360 miles above the Earth's surface."

"**What!?"**"**What!?"**Bumblebee and Bulkhead exclaimed at the same time.

"And it's descending fast." Ratchet continued, "Too fast. It looks like a spacecraft of Decepticon origin is crashing down onto the Earth."

"Can you track where it's going to land?" Optimus Prime asked as he walked into the room. There was the danger that the ship could crash into a populated area.

"71 miles away from human civilization, in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington State."

Optimus paused, thinking about the situation. "Alright. Bridge Arcee and Smokescreen back to base. When we have confirmed that the spacecraft has landed we will investigate. If there are any 'Cons onboard, we will be taking hostages. They may know something that could prove useful."

"Great. Just what we need. More 'Cons." Bulkhead grumbled.

Miko sat up. "More 'Cons!?"

"We don't know what is on board yet. However, from the course they were taking, and the sudden descent, it appears they were shot down." Ratchet stated.

"By Autobots, or by Decepticons?" Bumblebee asked.

"I am unable to tell at this time." Ratchet replied.

"Only time will tell." Optimus said

* * *

_9 mega-cycles (hours) ago_

Sideswipe taped his foot impatiently while waiting for the lift to stop. The converters were located in the holding area of the ship, two levels down and towards the back. They had been lucky that the shuttle they had stolen from the 'Cons all those orbital-cycles ago had been carrying two fairly large energon converters; machines that could take most other forms of energy and turn it into refined energon, for fueling the shuttle, and for consumption. This meant that they didn't have to stop at a populated planet for refueling, and that they didn't have to store as much. However, as the case was, they had gone through their shuttles reserves faster than anticipated, meaning that they would have to make a stop, fairly soon. Which was why Sideswipe was on his way down to prepare the energon converters, so that when they landed on whichever planet Sunstreaker was navigating them towards, they could refuel and be on their way as quickly as possible; something they had learned to do in their travels.

Sideswipe was pulled out of his thoughts as the lift came to a stop. The doors opened, and he made his way down the corridor, stopping at a door at the end of the hall. He punched the code in, and just as the doors were opening, a very large form came barreling through at a very fast pace, slamming into Sideswipe, knocking him off of his feet, and sending him flying back several meters. "**OOOFF!"**

He blinked several times, dazed, before he was able to focus on the object in front (er… on top) of him. A large Insecticon - large even for Insecticon size - was sitting atop him, licking at his face and drooling on him.

"Argh!... Bob! Get…..*gag*... **off**….. of me!" Sideswipe spat out, gagging somewhat when some off Bob's drool happened to land in his mouth while he was speaking.

"Me Bob _like_ you Master Sideswipe!" Bob exclaimed cheerfully.

A fit of giggling behind him alerted Sideswipe to the arrival of another. "Bluestreak? Aren't you suppose to be in recharge?" Sideswipe asked in a teasing manner as he finally was able to shove Bob off of himself.

"I woke up and couldn't fall back into recharge. I got up to go find you, and Sunny said you were down here. He said something about landing at another planet soon." Bluestreak explained. The youngster pulled a cloth out of subspace and handed it to Sideswipe as he approached, who used it to wipe the slime off of his face.

"Me Bob _like_ Little Master Bluestreak!" A high pitched shriek was his answer, "_BOB_!... _tickles_!..." Sideswipe looked over to see Bob nuzzling a giggling Bluestreak, who was rolling around on the floor trying to get away. Chuckling, Sideswipe called out after a cycle, "Alright Bob, that's enough." Bob looked up and Bluestreak, seeing his escape route, darted behind Sideswipe, clinging to the back of his legs.

"Ruin all Bob fun." Bob grumbled.

"Sides! Bob was being _mean_ to me!" Blue whined. "Bob was _not_!" Bob huffed back.

"Was too!" "Was not!"

Was _too_!" "Was _not_!"

Blue stuck his tongue out at Bob, who responded like wise. Still chuckling, Sideswipe picked Bluestreak up off of the floor, and placed him on his left hip. "Alright, that's enough you two. As Blue said, we're going planetside. We'll be there in about 8 and ¾ mega-cycles." Bob nodded and moved off to another part of the ship.

Sideswipe, with Bluestreak at his side (so to speak), entered the holding bay, turning on the lights as he went. "So, you couldn't recharge huh?" Sides asked. Blue shook his head with a yawn, "No. So I got up. I went to go find you and Sunny, but you weren't there. Sunny said you were down here, and he said I could stay with him," Blue paused to yawn again "but he looked busy and I didn't want to bother him." Bluestreak stopped, as if another thought had occurred to him. "Are you busy?"

Sideswipe chuckled, "Never to busy for my lil' buddy!" he exclaimed while poking Blue in the nose, causing him to giggle.

They arrived at the back of the holding bay. Sideswipe put Bluestreak down on the ground before heading over to two large machines, pulling off the large protective sheets. He entered the activation sequence, starting the converters up.

Blue sat down, leaning against a large crate, pulling his knees up to his chest and watching Sides work through sleepy optics. By the time Sideswipe was done, Bluestreak had fallen back into recharge, curled up on his side. Sides walked over smiling, scooped Blue up off of the floor, and left the 'bay, turning off the lights as he went.

Sunstreaker - after switching on the autopilot - was working at several monitors at the back of the control room when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. Sticking his head out of the door he saw Sideswipe heading in the opposite direction. "Hey Sides! Did Blue-"

"Shhh!"

Sideswipe turned around, revealing the silver mass cradled in his arms. A rare, genuine smile, lit up Sunstreaker's face at the sight of the their recharging companion. He walked over, placing a hand on the little one's head, caressing it gently. "Sweet lil' thing, ain't he."

"Troubled lil' thing. This is the third time I'm putting him in bed." Sideswipe stated, for once being the one to bring up the seriousness of a situation.

"Yeah, and his nightmares are getting worse." Sunny agreed, frowning slightly. Sideswipe sighed, "I'm gonna put him down then go hit my berth. You coming?"

Sunstreaker shook his head, "In a cycle. I've still got a couple more things I gotta do."

"Suite yourself bro." And with that Sideswipe continued down the hall, leaving Sunstreaker to his work.

* * *

_Present time_

Arcee and Smokescreen drove along the highway, Arcee in lead, when she suddenly pulled over, coming to a stop. Smokescreen, caught off guard by the sudden change in speed, over shot her and had to turn around.

There was no one else around; a good thing as Arcee transformed, putting a hand on the side of her head, a frown on her face.

"What?" Smokescreen asked as he walked up to her, still slightly miffed.

Arcee turned away from him slightly, to show that she was busy. Smokescreen crossed his arms and pouted.

"They were shot down by their own?... Yeah, this doesn't look good at all…. He's here with me…. Alright, we're standing by."

"Are you going to tell me _who_ you are talking too!?"

"I was talking to Ratchet." Arcee was doing her best not to snap. "They have figured out where the shuttle is going to crash. We are to return to base to get ready to head out."

Arcee turned at the sounds of a Bridge opening up, before heading over to it.

"... Wait, shuttle? Crash?" Smokescreen ran to catch up.

* * *

_1 & ¾ mega-cycles (hours) ago_

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had just finished making sure that everything was ready for when they landed. Now the two were sitting side by side at the controls. They had just entered the solar system that planet orbited in. Bluestreak was sitting on the floor behind them, happily drawing the time away on the datapad in front of him. He was busy drawing what he thought might live on the new planet when he realized that the twins were talking in hushed voices.

Curiosity got the better of him, and he silently crawled closer to hear what the two were saying.

"-ust got a bad feeling 'bout this s'all." Sideswipe whispered.

"Yeah, well you had a "good feeling" about the delta-1317 sector, and we _all_ know how _that_ turned out."

"You're not going to let that one go, are you!?" Sideswipe sounded quite miffed.

"No, I am not." Not as miffed as Sunny however.

"Look, all I'm saying is I think we should be careful." Sideswipe turned back to the controls in front of him.

"Be careful of what?" Only to turn back when Bluestreak showed up out of the blue… so to speak.

"Oh. You, uh, heard that?" Sideswipe gave a helpless look to his brother.

"Why? Was that bad?" The kicked turbo-puppy look may have been unintentional, but it's effects were still the same. Sunstreaker sighed, picking up Bluestreak around the waist and plopping Blue onto his lap.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong Bluestreak." He began to bounce the youngling on his knee. "Besides, if anything did go wrong, me and Sides would protect ya. Okay?"

"Okay." Bluestreak happily snuggled up to his guardian.

However, less than a cycle later, he began to squirm out of his seat.

"Look what I drew!"


End file.
